Breaking Glass
by Elegancexx
Summary: When Cato wakes up in a strange place to discover many of the dead tributes still alive in a secret underground factory, he can't believe in anything anymore, not even life itself. He saw these people die, killed them even, yet here everyone is- alive and thriving. Is this a miracle, or is it just another Game of the Capitol's? What does our Mockingjay have to do with it? AU, CxK
1. The Chasm

_A/N: Alright, so I'm sure you guys have all realized that this story is going to be a bit different. I'm quite excited by this plot bunny, to tell the truth, and I hope you are too. I am also looking for a beta for this one, as well as some positive and negative reviews. All input should be constructive, though you should note I'm difficult to offend._

**Chapter One: The Chasm**

I wake up in what looks to be an underground tunnel. I'm not the only one. The others are close by, Marvel and Clove and everyone else who was taken by the Games. But if this is heaven, it sure looks like hell. The air smells too sterile- a doctor's office surrounded by aluminum walls, an endless cylindrical hallway with pristine white beds from here on as far as I can see. I don't know where I am.

The last thing I can remember is the pain of my body being ripped apart by the mutts. The girl from twelve- Katniss, as I recall- sending a merciful arrow into my torn body, ending the hurt. A pity kill. Saving me from more agony. These sorts of deaths are a blessing in the games, but I wasn't supposed to die at all. I was supposed to come out alive, that's what I volunteered for. It was supposed to be eternal glory, for me, for my family, for my district.

What a joke.

I didn't realize how much all of my training has turned me into the Capitol's lapdog until I was faced with the very real possibility that I had just volunteered myself to die in the place of a total stranger all because I wanted to be a victor. At least I took down a lot of people with me; at least I brought some achievement to my people. I showed them my raw power, lived for them, killed for them, died for them. My district, my family, they are all that matter to me. I failed them. I shouldn't be alive. I should have been able to kill Katniss and Lover Boy before they took advantage of me. So why was I still here, if I had failed so miserably?

I flexed my muscles temporarily, trying to urge them to move as I leaned forward. Several wires and cords pulled me back though, keeping me in my bed. I grabbed hold of the ones attached to my arms and yanked them out, wincing slightly as the needles slid from my skin.

I had just begun to reach behind me to remove a bandage on my back when three men in white came racing towards me, hands gripping onto some strange looking guns. I jerked the patch off and lunged from my bed. My feet hit the ground and slipped across the metal surface. I sprawled out across the floor, clambering with my arms for something to pull myself up with and finding nothing. A voice called out to me from my left.

"Cato! Don't fight them, you'll only-"

The rest of the words never reached me, as the men in white came closer. My eyes widened in anticipation. I grabbed the leg of the first man, smiling in satisfaction as he fell to the ground. I pushed myself to my feet, finally finding purchase on the slippery ground. The second man aimed his gun at me, and I grabbed it quickly before he could shoot, breaking his wrist like a toothpick while he screamed. This was easy; this was what I had been trained for. If only I had a sword…

It had taken me too much time to disarm the second. I was too late. The third man pulled the trigger, and I felt an excruciating shock surge through my body. I fell to the ground once more, my limbs shaking uncontrollably as I lost consciousness.

**TTTTTTTTTTT**

When I came to, there were many faces peering down on me. They all started talking at once, and I caught bits and pieces of their words.

"Is he okay?" a sweet voice asked.

"Oh! Clove, he's moving!"

"Gee, isn't that just great. Do you think he knows about-"

"-Shut up, Thresh, of course he doesn't. The idiot had himself shocked right back down again before I could say anything."

They all started talking amongst themselves, and only got quiet when I opened both of my eyes completely.

"He's awake," said the girl from five, motioning for the others to back off. Clove pulled her by the hair to shove her out of the way and grabbed my collar.

"You didn't bring any of the tributes from twelve down with you? How embarrassing. I should have killed them when I had the chance," she spat, watching shrewdly as I sat up. I opened my mouth to retort something nasty, but she held up her fingers for silence. For some reason, I obliged her. "Save it, Cato. Right now, you're going to listen to me, and you're not going to ask a single question until I'm done. Got it?"

I narrowed my eyes at her, but nodded in consent. It bothered me that Clove was so short with me, but then again, I wasn't there to save her in time. I would be mad at me too if I were her. I wish she was as happy to see me as I was to see her.

"First and foremost, I'm sure you've noticed that you're alive and well. Almost all of us are. It's a bit tough to explain, but several tributes that were killed in the Games each year aren't actually dead. We're all here, in a place we like to call The Chasm. The Capitol has found a way to keep us around as long as we are useful. I can't explain our jobs or how we are still alive to you until you've been inducted, but you need to understand that you are here because you were chosen. Not every tribute gets this opportunity. Many are killed officially as soon as they leave the arena, but for whatever reason, we possess something the Capitol desires and we get the honor of living in their service. That's all I can tell you right now," Clove finished, crawling to sit on the foot of my bed.

I sat up straighter, looking at the faces around me. Most of them, I knew. Marvel, Glimmer, Thresh, Rue, Clove, Fox-Face, and Chip. I winced when I saw his face. He was the boy from three, the one whom I had killed very intentionally after he failed to stop someone from exploding our supplies. I was surprised at the combination of anger and regret I felt at seeing his face.

"None of this makes any sense. You guys are crazy, we're all dead. This is just some sort of twisted hell we belong in, I know it as well as you, there's no way-" I started, when the boy from three interrupted me with a scowl.

"We all know you belong in hell, Cato. You're a ruthless killer," Chip snarled.

I rolled my eyes. "Well as flattering as that may be kiddo, that doesn't make this any easier to understand."

He narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything more. The girl with the fox-like face from five stepped up closer, her features blank and her voice quiet as she recited something robotically.

"Rue will help you. She knows all of the ins and outs of this place. She'll lead you to the Director, he's the one who's responsible for explaining all of this a bit better. But once you have all of your answers, you can't share them with anyone or you'll be executed on the spot. If you have a problem with that, the medical tributes will make sure your death is painless. This time, there will be no waking up. If you think you can handle all of this secrecy, then please follow Rue and the Director will answer your questions and tell you how things are going to go from here on out. If not, now is your chance to speak up."

I felt my hands clenching, my fingers digging into my palms. It seemed I didn't have much of a choice. I hated having a lack of options.

"I guess you've left me no choice. But if I find you all are tricking me into joining up with something horrible that I can't understand, I will not hesitate to kill you in your sleep. I will hunt you down, and I will find you. You'd better be telling the truth," I said with my teeth grinding together.

I felt a small hand touch my bicep. Looking down, I saw the dark eyes of the little girl from eleven. Her eyes lacked the anger I could see clearly etched in the expressions of the others. I gulped, knowing I had killed her indirectly. It was my hunting party that tracked her, and any death in the Games made me feel elated at the time. Now it just felt a bit sickening to see such a little girl with such an honest, merciful face, pulling me down the hallway, knowing that the group I sent out had ended in her ultimate demise. The twinge of remorse wasn't enough to affect me completely though, and I still managed a slight growl. "Don't you dare mislead me, Rue, or you'll wish you were never born."

She removed her hand from my arm and walked a few paces ahead of me, her back towards me. Taking everything I said in stride, she laughed a bit. "I figured as much. Lucky for you I don't hold grudges like everyone else. I might have something unkind to say back to that."

I was silent the rest of the walk. Rue seemed to know where she was going, turning right and left into various hallways, a huge labyrinth of them, all with the exact same metal walls. It all looked identical. I didn't know how she could possibly navigate it so well. Against my better judgment, I felt a tiny bit grateful that someone else was leading the way for once. Eventually, we came upon what looked like a dead end, where the wall cut off into a single sheet of metal covered in tiny screws.

Rue pulled a small screwdriver from her pocket, and started unscrewing the bolts in a strange order. I watched as the wall gave way to a single glass door. She opened it carefully, and whispered to me, "I'm not allowed to enter- it's your meeting, not mine. Make sure to ask every question you feel you need to know, because you're never allowed to see the Director again. This is your chance to bargain for what you want in life. Use it well."

I nodded once, and stepped inside. The door shut behind me, followed by the metal wall, and I was instantly surrounded by darkness.

_A/N: Don't forget to give your input on the way out. Answers will be given in the next chapter to several of the questions you may be having. Also, I apologize for the cliff hanger but this next part is going to be very long. I also wanted to let you know that the time break above, I normally use astrix's or something cooler, but FF doesn't allow that, so now you ended up with the letter "T" in bold. Sorry that it isn't the most attractive._


	2. The Director

_A/N: Here's the second chapter- hopefully this one can answer a few questions for you and Cato both. I got this up early to thank you guys for your reviews! Four reviews and ten follows within a few hours? I'm impressed. Here are your spoils._

_Also, I wanted to give you a bit of information about my take on Cato so you can understand his characterization a bit better. I see him as still being a very ruthless guy. This is the largest side we were shown of him, and I don't plan on disregarding that so quickly. But I also see his dangerous side as being very bloodline related. His people, his training, his entire life have been surrounded by the idea that death is a good thing. Obviously he can't change that quickly. On that note, it seems noticable to me that anyone who would go such lengths to bring honor to his family must care about them a great deal. So, Cato does have some good in him, especially if he can realize that he was wrong about people. That won't happen for awhile, so I apologize if you don't like dealing with the ruthless side for awhile._

_Enjoy! _

**Chapter Two: The Director**

"…_This is your chance to bargain for what you want in life. Use it well."_

_I nodded once, and stepped inside. The door shut behind me, followed by the metal wall, and I was instantly surrounded by darkness._

As soon as the door clanged shut behind me, a withered hand struck a match into a candle across from me. The room lit up instantly, revealing the shadows of a regal looking old man sitting with his back towards me. The oaken table behind him gleamed like fire in the feeble light. He didn't turn around as he spoke, his voice gruff but sickeningly smooth.

"Welcome, Cato of District Two. I am the Director of this humble…factory, as one might see it. You do not need to know my name, and I would advise you against asking of my identity. Any other questions you have will be answered in an interview, of sorts. You may ask the first question, and then it will be my turn. I trust you understand how to play fairly?" His voice trailed off in a bit of a dry chuckle. "Then again, you career tributes often choose to benefit yourselves without regard to the wishes of anyone else. I don't expect you to be any different, but I must caution you. When I am speaking, you are to listen. When I am asking you a question, you are to answer me honestly. You can expect the same from me, until I tire of our little game. But be warned, if I catch you in a lie, I will not hesitate to dispose of you like the rat you are," he stated calmly, using the flame of the candle to light a cigarette encased in metal. He held it in his left hand, the smoke curling up the color red until it vanished into the darkness.

Everything he was saying went against the very fiber of my being. I didn't like being told what to do, or who to respect. That was a right that was earned, not merely understood. However, something in his cool demeanor prevented me from speaking out. Taking my silence for consent, the Director continued.

"Please begin. Your mind must be buzzing with questions." He was right, of course. That didn't mean I had to like his cold assumptions.

"I want to know where we are and why I should bother listening to you," I said, trying to sigh as if unaffected by this man's eerie composure, though inside I knew I was walking on thin ice. He overlooked my act, and answered my question with the full voice of a king lowering himself patiently to his people to hear out their silly requests.

"We are currently in the Education Wing of the Capitol's largest factory. This is where tributes come to be taught about their existence, and eased into their new way of life. My office is the first phase of this adjustment. The Factory is many things, but it is first and foremost a hiding place for people who, for one reason or another, can no longer live on the surface. It exists underground, in an area that I cannot describe to you at this time. You must understand that you and your fellow tributes cannot return home. As far as the Districts know, you and your peers are dead. That is why you will live, work, and thrive here in various wings of the Factory, away from the outside world. Some wings, you will grow to understand better than others. Some, you will never see during the entirety of your long-term stay. You must satisfy yourself with a limited amount of knowledge beyond what I will explain to you today. As for why you should bother listening to me, allow me to enlighten you."

The Director inhaled his cigarette deeply, breathing the red smoke again before he continued. "I am the one who runs this operation, on the under-ground level. This system is much more complicated than you will ever understand, but I am the one who calls the shots down here. I will evaluate you, and determine if I still believe you are as useful to me as I did during your performance at the Games. If I don't find a need for you, I will either send you to the Production Wing, where you will work mindlessly until you die, or I will kill you on the spot. If you make this process difficult for me in the least, I will kill your family on the surface, as well as anyone who ever spoke a kind word to you in your life. It is in your best interest to make this as easy as possible, and the first way to do that is to listen to every word I say. I can make your life paradise, or I can make it hell. It is your choice."

I swallowed deeply. It was a lot to take in, and his words had me frozen. Half of me wanted to flip this table over right on top of him. Before his last answer, I was considering it heavily. But the weight of the consequences was securing me on the spot. I had been trained to be a mindless killer. Death blows were not hard for me to deal. Yet, all machines have a weak spot. And for me, it was my family. He had me trapped with only a few vague words. I moved to speak, but my mouth felt glued shut in what I could only assume was fear. It was a strange emotion. I had only felt it once before, when Clove was dying besides me. But anger had quickly taken over, and I didn't have long to sit within that odd pain. This time, I couldn't find a source to take my revenge out on, and I was trapped with this fear, rooting my mouth closed.

The Director rescued me from my speechlessness. "Now, it is my turn. I did tell you this wouldn't be a one-sided game. First, I want to know your strengths, and your weaknesses. I watched your games, I know you are very physically strong and adept with weapons. But I want something a little more…personable, than that."

My eyebrows raised unwittingly. Why would he want to know about me? He's the one who brought me here, or something like that. Shouldn't he already know what I'm capable of? What was he playing at, asking me questions like this were a quiz? I was afraid of what my answer would mean. Especially afraid of telling someone who seemed to be an adversary about my weaknesses, but if I could give him enough reasons to fear me and very little notable weakness, he might overlook it.

"I'll face any monster you've got and I won't fail at destroying it. I don't get squeamish, and I don't run away from a fight, even if I'm outnumbered. But I guess… I guess it only goes as far as I'm willing to go. I suppose my weakness is my stubborn attitude. If I want to do something I do it, and if not, I don't, and don't you dare try convincing me otherwise," I said quickly, hoping that was enough for him.

He didn't answer for a good long while, but eventually I watched him put out his cigarette on something in front of him. In the dim light, I could see him picking up a small rectangular object. He pressed down on it, and suddenly the room was glowing blue beneath the light of a plasma screen television. I could see now the gray color of his hair.

"I thought we had agreed not to lie to one another, Cato. You disappoint me," he whispered hauntingly. The T.V. jumped to an image, of my family sobbing. They were glaring at the victory train where I knew this year's game victors must be as it passed them by. My throat tightened.

_Dad… Mom… Frade…My perfect family._

I told them I would return. Now, I could see their faces when they realized I hadn't. It was heartbreaking. They didn't seem ashamed. They didn't seem regretful. They just seemed…sad. Even Dad's face was streaming with tears, and I'd never seen him cry before. And my brother, Frade. He was always such an open person, wearing his heart on his sleeve, yet there he stood emotionless, trying to be the man I had once been. Stoic, and attentive. I had to close my eyes tight to avoid my own wet eyes.

"You see? I already know your weaknesses, Cato," the Director breathed, while the image changed to Katniss, drawing back her bow and shooting the sack of apples down into my supply pile. I had never known who was responsible for ruining my chances so early, and now fresh feelings of rage poured over me. I didn't even regret it as the scene changed to an image of me snapping the boy from three's neck. I was too angry.

"Your greatest weakness is very contradictory, Cato, for it is both hatred and love alike. Both are too strong for you to handle, though you possess them in equal measures. Here, you will learn to detach yourself from both. It's the only way you can be of use to me. Shall I tell you what your new life is going to be like?"

Determined to avoid being walked over, I crossed my arms and replied "Yes, but before you do, I have another question. It's my turn." The Director stiffened, obviously annoyed at how well I was learning the rules to our little game. "Go on," he said, his voice low and dangerous.

"How are we alive? And I don't want a vague answer, I want to understand it all from the beginning."

The T.V. no longer displayed images, but it remained on, setting the room gray with static. "From the beginning? No…No, I cannot tell you that far. What I can tell you is that the weapons in the arena are more complicated than you tributes or anyone else can understand. They don't kill; they create illusions, just like the tracker jackers, only much more powerful. No human eye can escape them. People see very visibly and clearly the damage that a weapon _would_ have created had it actually happened. Even you see your body being torn apart, and you feel the teeth of the dogs, and the stab of the arrow. You feel death, as best as it can be mimicked. Capitol creations, at least for the games, are made to illicit illusions not only to those in direct contact with them, but also in all who can see them. It is how we are able to make very real mutations appear as if out of thin air, how the elements obey our every whim, how the arena listens to the Gamemaker's will. Thus, when our hovercrafts remove a tribute from the arena, it must be decided whether to kill them immediately or to send them to the factory. You have been sent here because I need your skill, Cato, and have deemed you worthy of survival."

It was almost too much to process. I could picture in my mind the faces of people from past games, see their deaths, feel the same need for victory I felt the first time I watched. Yet how could it be, that some of those people were still alive? It was a strange notion that put into my mind just how powerful the Capitol really was. To manage to create an illusion powerful enough to decieve the entire country of Panem… It was all too much. Trying to regain my composure, I coughed once and winced sharply recalling Rue's words as the doors closed behind me: _"…This is your chance to bargain for what you want in life. Use it well."_

"Whatever skill you require of me, I won't give it to you without a few promises on your part," I bargained blatantly. The director's voice rose a pitch.

"Oh, I will hear out your demands, young Cato, but you must remember what I said about making things difficult for me," he replied venomously. I swallowed hard before continuing.

"I want you to swear you won't hurt my family, nor Clove's, nor anyone from my games. I want you to swear that if my little brother Frade is reaped and killed, you will bring him here no matter how useful he seems and you will make it so we can stay together. I want you to swear that despite whatever laws you might have, I can be allowed to return to the surface in five years time. And Katniss… If Katniss ever crosses my path, you will not raise arms to prevent me from slaying her on the spot."

The Director leaned back in his chair, hand reaching up as though to stroke his chin. It was hard to tell with his back towards me. "This is impossible," he replied blandly.

"Then I'm afraid you'll have to kill me now, else I have no reason to live." No revenge, no family, no hope… It would be better to die now than live without my requests. "Oh no, I can't be killing you so early. You have my promise that I will not personally harm anyone you have mentioned. Your brother would be a nuisance, but I will ensure that it is done. As for your return to the surface, you can return in ten years, not five, and only after serious cosmetic surgery and a change of identity. Once you do so, all agreements we have made will be broken. But Katniss… I cannot allow you to kill her, for political reasons, I'm sure you understand. If it were me, of course I'd be happy to oblige you. Oh yes, I've seen what she's taken from you. How she's humiliated you. Killed you. But she must live, for now," the Director haggled.

I stood in silence for a few moments, drinking in my options. It was enough for now. I could wait ten years to kill Katniss and her Lover Boy from twelve. All I could do in the mean time was get stronger.

"I accept your bargain, Director." The words escaped my mouth before I thought it all through. I was sure I had missed something, but what could it be?

"Excellent. Now, you are to report to Room Eleven here in the Education Wing. Rue is waiting for you outside."

He waved his fingers to signal my dismissal, and I turned around and walked out the opening door. I wish I could understand. Why had he only asked me that one question? Was it merely a warning of how well this strange Director knew me? Or was there some deeper answer that I couldn't come up with yet? Shaking these thoughts from my head, I tried to smile at Rue as she opened the door. I'm afraid it may have come out sarcastic and menacing as always, but I should get points for my effort. She smiled back cautiously as she led me away again. I was feeling a strange sense of gratitude towards the little girl for helping me drive a bargain with the Director. He was an elusive figure, hard to understand, but she had helped me make some headway in my new life and for that I was grateful.

"How did it go?" she asked quietly, as though more afraid now that I was being cordial towards her than she had been during my rage.

"Interestingly," I answered vaguely. She smiled at that. "Good, looks like you've learned to keep secrets as well. You should know though, I'm the person who it's safest to talk to. It's a part of my T.O.S, my Task of Service. You'll be given one too. My personal job is a Guide. It's my duty to know the location of every room within the factory so that I can take people where they need to go. Keeping secrets is a big part of my Task, but I have a big family, you see. They've got a lot they can threaten me with, so I have to obey them," Rue said, wrinkling her nose. I wondered if that was why she warned me to bargain with the Director. Maybe she hadn't, and now it was being used against her.

"Anyways, point is, my job is to keep secrets all to myself. So if there's ever anyone you need to talk to, I'm the one you go to," she continued, seeming slightly satisfied with that job. Nevertheless, I could still see a large amount of wariness in her eyes, whether it was because I was intimidating or because keeping the secrets she knew was harder than she let on, I'd never know.

"Thanks, but no thanks," I replied. I didn't share my secrets with anyone. Secrets made one weak, and weak was something I could never become. Especially not here, in this place that reeked of danger. Rue shrugged. "All the same to me, but you're going to have to learn to trust someone, or else all of this secrecy will start to get to you."

Her second warning in one day. What was my world coming to? Mere weeks ago I'd have sliced her head off for even speaking to me. Of course, that wasn't really of my design, it was the Capitol's. Yet somehow, she was treating me like I hadn't been trying to kill her not too long ago. It was disconcerting, to say the least. I'd never been around someone so easy going, except perhaps my brother. He was the opposite of me- talkative, happy, aloof, and peaceable. We'd always managed to get along, though I never understood how.

This place made me miss him a lot.

"What's in Room Eleven?" I asked Rue, stuffing my hands in my pockets. She attempted a smile for my sake. "Your initiation. I can't say what yours will be. Everyone's initiation is different, but it's a thorough evaluation of what sort of Task you'd be best at. Once it's over, the test coordinator will tell you your Task and relocate you to the wing of the factory where you will live and work. For the first couple of weeks after that, you'll still be able to enter the Healing Wing, where you were first brought in and healed. There are a couple of weeks allotted to make sure you are fully recovered from the experience you will go through during your initiation. So you have to report there for awhile- that's the only reason you were still able to see your fellow tributes to begin with. After we're all done with our recovery, we'll be kept permanently in our assigned wings. But for now there's a bit of a grace period."

I didn't know what to say back to that. I had been given so much information in one day that I could no longer bring myself to react. So what if I couldn't see the other tributes? They all hated me anyway, it was my fault most of them were here and not victors. I guess I did still want Clove's forgiveness, if only because our families were close friends back home. Marvel was a decent fighter. Maybe I could get along with him too.

Rue stopped outside of the next door, a slightly friendlier one than the last, a simple wooden door with no special features of protection. At least, so I thought, until I noticed the faint buzz of electricity running behind it. Rue typed a code on the wall besides it, and it creaked open, shutting off the electricity.

After the revelation of the first room I had entered this one was…disappointing. No creepy directors, no eerie half light, just a blonde woman sitting at an average desk, drinking a bowl of soup and peering down at a file of papers. When I walked in, she smiled and stood up.

"Oh! Cato, dear, how lovely it is to meet you at last. Such a brave fight you put up in the games this year! Pity I couldn't be up there this year to help out, but my current job is just as rewarding, I assure you," said the woman, crossing the room to shake my hand. Her skin was tinted a bit purple, though it had long since faded, and she was adorned in multiple tentacle-like tattoos. Whoever she was, she reeked of the Capitol.

"Not brave enough, it seems, but it's nice to meet you…?" I implored, unsure of her name. She made a little 'o' of surprise with her mouth. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, how horrible of me not to introduce myself! My name is Calpurnia Reese. I'm going to be your test coordinator for this afternoon."

I remembered her. She had been a stylist from District Three. Always suiting people up in strange silver costumes… Not the best stylist, but maybe not the worst either. How she ended up down here was beyond me, but now didn't seem like the time to broach the topic. I turned around to raise an eyebrow at Rue, but the door was already closed and she was gone.

"Now, Cato dear, I'm going to have to ask you to close your eyes…"

_A/N: Well, there you have it, the second chapter. I hope to continue updating as quick as I can, especially with how few Cato/Katniss stories there are out there. It's a hard couple to get just right, but I'll get there eventually for those of you who are waiting on that. In the mean time, this may feel a bit Sci-Fi, as one reviewer mentioned. I hope everyone is enjoying it thus far, and please review! I loved your thoughts on the last chapter._


	3. Tests

"_Now, Cato dear, I'm going to have to ask you to close your eyes…"_

_TTTTTTTTTTT_

**A/N: Alright, I know it's been a few days, but I just started college! I'm just finishing my first week of classes. We just got moved into our dorms and I found myself with a spare hour, so I tried to push this chapter out.**

**Chapter Three: Tests**

When I first walked in, I expected everything was going to be alright. Calpurnia didn't look much different than any of the other Capitol bimbos who frequented my district, and she didn't inspire any more fear in me than a mouse to a lion. But the trouble with mice? When you aren't looking, they can get into all sorts of trouble.

"Can I open them now?" I asked. Only silence answered my question. She must have scurried away. I opened my eyes to find my world completely changed. The woman and the desk had vanished, and the room was encased in an eerie light. I heard the sound of the Capitol woman's voice call out from the walls where there must have been an intercom of some sort.

"Let's see how well you conquer your fears, shall we?" she said, a lilt of excitement creeping into her voice. I suddenly felt the urge to strangle her. Whatever this place was, it felt like a smaller, one-man version of the games, and I didn't want any part in it. Everything felt surreal and strange, but even worse…

Something under my feet was moving.

The walls were changing right before my eyes, turning bumpy and golden in color. They rounded off into strange hexagonal shapes, oozing a dripping liquid.

I jumped back to avoid the growing sensation that I was doomed, only to find my feet landing on something slippery. I fell right to the ground, surrounded by something sticky sweet. The ground where I had been standing previously started shaking, creaking, cracking, until suddenly a massive swarm of over-sized Tracker Jackers came zipping out from the cracks in the floor.

Remembering how much agony I had felt when Katniss had unleashed them upon my tribute group during the games, I curled into a ball on the ground, trying to avoid the stinging sensation as they flew around me. The humming buzz of their wings was almost too much to bear, and when one flew close behind my neck, I fought hard not to scream as I anticipated the horrors to come. I could feel the tips of its wings glancing across my skin, but I didn't feel anything more. They weren't stinging me. Confused, I slowly stood up, cautious as to why I hadn't been stung yet when I was so clearly surrounded.

Casting my eyes around the room, I could see that the entire area had been turned into one big nest, and I was standing at its center. Everywhere around me, all I could see was colored golden and black. Except for one thing, a weird thing to be seeing under the circumstances…

And suddenly, I knew why they hadn't been stinging me. They were after my brother. Frade was falling feebly to the ground, the beasts surrounding the air, encompassing him. But his voice still rang out, "Cato! Cato! Help me! Please…" he begged. "Please! PLEASE!" His yells grew frantic, as I fought the sticky ground, trying to get to my feet, unaware of how he could have gotten here.

The boy who cried at a paper cut. My poor, helpless younger brother. They were swarming around him, puncturing his skin with their stinging needles. How could he hold up to so much pain? I thrust myself to my feet, my shoes squelching against the honey-coated ground. Frade's voice was going quiet, and I was growing increasingly desperate.

"Please, Calpurnia! Stop this! You're hurting him!" I yelled frantically, hoping she could stop this madness.

The Capitol woman didn't answer; I didn't know if she was even listening anymore, if she was around, if she even cared. It was only me. I was the only one who could save my brother, and I couldn't get there in time. I stepped forward again slowly, and felt my foot strike painfully against something metallic, hidden beneath the surface of the nest. Reaching down with a growl, I felt around for the sharp object, my hand encased in the golden liquid until I struck up against something solid and deadly pointed.

My sword. It was the same one I had used in my Games, and I grabbed for it with a feeling of elation. With this, I could do anything. It took all of my strength to pull it from the sticky substance, and when I pulled it out I knew I had done the wrong thing.

All of the Tracker Jackers had left my brother, turned towards me, and flown closer with deadly accuracy. They knew that I had turned into the enemy, and I was planning to kill them. The first one stung my left shoulder, its legs clinging to my coated skin. I stabbed at it viciously with my sword, slicing it in two. The others followed after, enraged by their fallen comrade, coming ever closer.

I glanced to where Frade had been standing moments ago, and now all I could see was a faint glitter in the air. A shimmer, of sorts, like a chink in the wall just behind where he once stood. Was this what the Director had meant, about illusions?

The buzzing enemy was upon me now, shimmering slightly like the spot my brother had been, and as I felt their stabbing stings here and there, the pain brought me to my knees. I tried to comfort myself as my vision distorted, and the walls around me melted and shrank, my brain flooding over with the hallucinations.

"It's just an illusion…Only an illusion," I told myself softly, my arm feebly stirring, trying to cut, stab, slice at any enemy I could reach.

"IT'S AN ILLUSION!" I yelled, hoping that my last thought could be some form of answer, and it was.

The sensation of agony ceased to exist. Once the realization struck me, it was as if nothing had ever happened. I was standing back in the same room I had stood in moments ago, as if it had all been a dream. The desk was across from me again, the woman looking up at me from behind her glasses, setting her papers down.

"Oh, you've done marvelously, Cato dear!" she called out to me, walking over as if to hug me, her arms spread wide, a smile gracing her face.

"You've got some brains in there after all, saying as this is what the Director was worried about, that you might not have the intelligence for the job. Most career thugs don't, but I'm so glad you figured out that everything was an illusion, so very glad!" She came closer, arms reaching through the air, but I wasn't about to touch her.

Well, not in the way she wanted me to. I lunged forward and before she could move, I had her locked, one hand on her jaw and the other at the top of her head, exactly how I had killed Chip, and very nearly killed Peeta. Easily able to snap her neck.

"I hope you saw my Games, Calpurnia. I hope you remember what happens next, once I've trapped you. Because if you or anyone else in this damn hell-hole ever uses my brother against me again, I will not hesitate to remind you _very, very clearly."_

I could feel her take a deep gulp under my hands. It took every ounce of willpower I could to release her, and she stepped back, rubbing her jaw with a disgruntled look on her face. I needed her alive so I could get my answers.

"Now, you're going to tell me what this little test has been about, you're going to tell me whether or not you have my brother, and you're going to tell me exactly how everything is going to go from here on out, because if I have to play one more little game or do one more little test, I will take your life away from you like the feeble existence it is," I snarled, my eyes dark, while Calpurnia backed away slowly.

I moved towards her, and she continued backing up, until the door behind me opened gently and Rue stepped back in quiet as a whisper. Calpurnia took one last look at my burning eyes, turned around and ran from the room.

I strode to follow her, outraged, until Rue grabbed at the back of my shirt. Frustrated at her interruption, I shoved my elbow back into her stomach, watching her fall to the ground as I stormed from the room.

"Cato…" she said quietly, holding her gut, wincing at the force I had used. It was enough to distract me from my mission, and I turned around to spit a retort at the little girl. But for some reason, seeing her lying on the ground, I was reminded of my little brother. That would have hurt him too, to be thrown down so hard. I bit back my words of anger, and sighed. Calpurnia was surely too far gone to pursue by now.

"What, Rue? You've been here longer than I have; don't you realize how ridiculous all of this is?" She shook her head, as I helped her back to her feet. "It's not as strange as you think. So much of the Capitol relies on illusion, Cato. The illusion of the Games, the illusion of death, of pain, suffering, the illusion of power," she said softly, glancing around as if someone could punish her for her words any moment, before continuing, "The illusion they've raised you to fall for. In eleven, we're one of the weaker Districts. We don't get the benefit of being close to the capitol, of getting better food, better sponsors, a better life. But we are much, much better off than you could ever know. Being separated from the Capitol by so many differences enables us to avoid the illusions. We know they're evil, we know their Hunger Games aren't a victory worth winning… But you've been raised to believe that being a tribute is the highest honor you can receive. It's not. It's a death sentence, as you've probably learned by now. And unlike the others in the Districts, you and I and the other supposed 'dead' tributes know the truth about their weapons. It's only an illusion. Once you realize that, it all stops hurting. It's all in your head."

Rue blinked slowly, as if to give me time to think it all over. "Whatever you saw during your test was just as tangible as anything else, but it wasn't real. You will learn to recognize the lies from the reality soon. It's all a matter of looking for a soft-spot, a sort of chink in the vision, a part where it doesn't seem to fit. Many people who have seen this falsely believe it's just a mistake in the object, a weakness. But it isn't. It's the location that the creators of this technology haven't learned to fully cover. It's like an artist who paints on a canvas, but he can never quite make it three dimensional, even if it looks as realistic as possible. It's the greatest sign that what you're looking at isn't really there. It's everywhere in the Districts, I've only learned it now because I'm privy to a lot of strange secrets in this place. Some of the Peacekeepers, the weapons, even some of the Capitol's own citizens are an illusion to make their control look stronger, more absolute. They are much more vulnerable than you've been raised to think."

I had walked slowly backwards while she was speaking, until my back was up against the wall. Rue was leaning slightly against the wall besides me. Somehow, when she explained it, everything seemed much more real to me than when the Director had. There really were illusions all around us. It was an impossible thought.

My world, everything I had always known, wasn't the same place I thought it was. The power that held the Districts together wasn't a strong chain, it was a weakening rope, and it wouldn't be long now before it would unravel and fall away completely. If only I could get to the surface, tell my people what I had learned… But they'd never listened. I know I wouldn't have, until I'd seen as much as I had today. The Capitol put bread on our table, fed us, respected us even. Why should we turn against them? Yet, if everything was as Rue had told me, then all of that was a lie. My District was living on a false truth, comforted by illusions and bowing down to the weakest of Gods, the God of corruption and greed.

I swallowed tightly. "So my brother…?"

"If you saw him in your test, he wasn't really there. He's safe."

I smiled gently in relief, and Rue spoke again. "Anyways, I just came to tell you that your test is over. Calpurnia sent in a job request for you during your test and it was accepted. You've been determined useful to the Director."

I looked sharply at her. "How so? What will I be doing?"

Rue smiled back at me, but this time it seemed a bit more of an ironic smirk than anything.

"You're going to spy on Katniss Everdeen."

**A/N: I know the chapters seem a bit short right now, but once the suspense is done building and we get a little more into where this story is headed, they'll start getting longer. Right now, it's going from one main event to the next and I can only dedicate one chapter per thing so I can keep my muse going. And again, if anyone is interested in being a Beta for this story to check grammar, plot growth, and to motivate me in general, please feel free to say it in a review or PM. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!**


	4. The Rite of Passage

_A/N: From this point onward, this fic will start making some parallels with "Catching Fire," which, disclaimer time, is not mine. Nor is any famous work of fiction, come to think of it. If you haven't read it, that's alright, but you might need to ignore some of my Author's notes. Please skip ahead to the chapter if you haven't yet read that book… Also, I apologize for the months this has taken to get out there, I hope things go a lot smoother from here on out. I do intend to finish this story._

…_Still here?_

_Okay, good. Because if you haven't read Catching Fire, you should be further down the page by now. To those of you who have, the first parallel I hope you started to notice with the word "Chink" in the last Chapter. More explanation on this will come, but for now, keep that in mind as you recall some bits from the second book._

**Chapter Four: The Rite of Passage**

_"You're going to spy on Katniss Everdeen..."_

It was easier to settle in than I expected it to be. Once I received my Task, my never-ending flow of confusion seemed to ebb a little, and life became as normal as it could be for someone who lived underground. I was given a room in the Information Wing, where I lived with a roommate who wasn't exactly happy to see me. Chip from District Three still seemed to resent me for ending his life, and sometimes his snarky bedtime comments got so irritating I wished I could kill him all over again.

I'd been assigned to work in a group alongside Chip and Fox-face. I still didn't know her real name yet, though I'd heard the nick-name from Rue when she'd showed me to my new quarters. Apparently we aren't the only ones to use it, and I get the feeling that she half likes not having her real name known. It gives her even more mystery than her quiet nature gives off on its own. Fox-face was in charge of Reconnaissance. As I'd learned so far, her job was to scout ahead as silently and unnoticeably as possible. In our case, she'd be the one traveling the landscape around District Twelve, in disguise, until we knew the exact lay of the land. Once she was done with that, she'd report to Chip, who would add it to a technologically generated map.

Chip was responsible for updating our spy suits and keeping a holographic map of our locations. So far, he'd upgraded our disguise systems to operate on a panel near our forearms. With the buttons on the panel, we could use the very same illusions as the Capitol to turn our images into one of many pre-programmed settings. Typically, Fox-face and I were disguised as a couple in the upper-town end of District Twelve, where newcomers would be less noticeable. Or, we would be, once we got out in the real world again.

Our jobs were top notch- we had freedom on the surface, and for me this was much earlier than previously expected, not to mention some pretty cool gadgets. The panel could not only change our image to reflect what it needed to, but it could also transmit verbal messages from person to person as well as display Chip's most recent map.

Everything was still in the training phase, of course. We hadn't been allowed above the Chasm yet, as we still had a lot to learn according to our instructor, a pretty blonde woman called Maysilee who had once been from District Twelve herself. A tribute from twenty some years ago, she spent much of our training time lecturing us on the various traditions and idiosyncrasies of the District, despite how ridiculously outdated her information was. Nevertheless, her training was valid, and we'd learned quickly enough how not to stick out within the District.

"Cato, get down here and help me!"

Foxface was calling irritably, glancing up at the tree I was perched in. I didn't particularly feel like coming down. Chip had made fun of me endlessly for not being able to catch Katniss up in the tree during our Games, and when our instructor got wind of my incapability she immediately had me climbing up and down trees faster than the drop of a pin. This particular oak had taken time to climb up, as it was lacking in branches and I was forced to rely on two knives to pull myself up by the arms.

"I just got up here. No way I'm coming down now," I returned in annoyance, leaning my head up against the bark. One moment of rest, that's all I wanted. I wasn't going to get it.

"Listen 2, your teammate needs you. You may not have experienced loyalty within your group-" Maysilee said, looking from me towards Chip. We all knew what I had done to him in the arena. And no one could trust me for it. I had killed in cold blood. "-but on this mission, you listen to each other, or else you deal with me. Got it?"

I didn't want to admit to feeling threatened by a woman, especially one as small as Maysilee, but she was a bundle of fire much like Clove. I respected her for it, and tried to tread on her toes as little as possible. Foxface though, I still got in the way of. It irked me to no end that she had managed to steal our supplies time and time again. I knew it had been her. Katniss could never have been so subtle.

My jaw flexed at the order, but I grudgingly sunk my knives back into the tree and began scaling down. I wished Chip could modify our suit programming so we could have animal illusions as well. It would make climbing a lot easier.

"It's trickier than it looks. Your thought process would have to be changed so you'd think like an animal, and you just wouldn't be able to change back without cognitive thinking," he had told me. On this, I decided not to argue. I didn't know much about technology, and I figured I'd leave it to the computer worm to figure out our best settings for our panels. It still felt a bit like magic to me.

As soon as my feet touched the ground, Foxface grumbled at me again. "Get over here, this thing is much too heavy for me to push by myself." I rolled my eyes. I hadn't listened to her particular set of directions; it didn't make sense to me why she was shoving up against a rock like her life depended on it. As I got closer, I noticed a part of the rock that didn't quite match the rest. Another 'chink' in the making of it, another symbol of an illusion.

"Hey Foxface, I'm not sure that's a-" I started, when suddenly the so-called rock sprang to life morphing into a sort of wolf-like creature, except it's eyes looked strangely…_human. _None that I could recognize, but Foxface seemed to think it was something more serious than that.

She was screaming an inhuman cry, spinning away from the wolf which, only moments ago, had been a rock.

This illusion thing was really starting to freak me out.

"No, NO!" Foxface yelled, "It can't be!" She continued to run from it, her eyes agonized like a stormy sky while the creature chased her, mouth drooling. I didn't want to know what more she was seeing to the illusion. I glanced quickly at Maysilee. Why wasn't she doing anything? Our trainer was leaning up against the tree now, without a care in the world, her blonde hair falling around her face.

Well, if no one else was going to help her…

I dropped quickly to the ground, tumbling over to intercept the animal. It was mouthfuls away from biting into her skin, and I rolled in front of its flailing paws just in time. A wave of horror crashed down upon me as the monster latched it's claws into my leg. I remembered them very clearly… The morphing animals, the terrifying beasts which had ripped me to shreds in the arena. How could I escape them? The grasping jaws were hot with hunger, the teeth sharp like glass but stronger. I could remember the feeling of my own body being devoured, and the memory was enough to make me scream.

Maysilee was still standing as if nothing was going on, but nothing felt like an illusion, it all felt like white-hot pain. Her absolute lack of caring about my wellbeing was enough to set me on edge, adding my anger to the mix enough to fight off the blind panic welling up inside of my veins.

As I fought to get the higher aim, to stand above it, I tried to remember everything I had learned about illusions. There was always one part, one chink that the creators couldn't fix, right?

Trying to take this idea and turn it into something useful, I gave the wolf a sound kick right where the glamour was weakest. The animal howled in pain, turning and clamping its teeth onto my arm. I groaned in agony, feeling the blood seep up through my shirt. I was bleeding profusely. Illusion or not, I could still feel my body weakening. As my vision started to go blurry, I looked up just in time to see the animal's jaw lowering to meet me. I raised my hands and crushed them into the chink besides its face, feeling skin and muscle give way into nothingness, as the monster's howl cut off and it disappeared forever.

It was the last thing I remember.

**TTTTTTTTTTTTT**

It wasn't long before I came to, propped up against the oak tree like a stilt. Foxface was wrapping something around my leg, covering a wound, while Maysilee and Chip were arguing animatedly a few yards away.

"You should have intervened, Chip, this is a team training session. Just because you do the technological work doesn't mean you don't have responsibilities, a duty to-" Maysilee was saying, her voice rising a pitch before she was interrupted. "A duty to what? To him?" Chip snarled, pointing a bony finger in my direction. "You and I both know that's never going to happen! He ruined me! He ruined every chance I have at a normal life, of being on the surface with my family, of growing up and working and marrying and having kids, of being who I was meant to be, and for what reason? Because I don't have eyes in the back of my head to see when someone is coming to steal our food?" I could almost see his brown eyes flash a dangerous gold as he leaned in closer to our trainer. He was trying to level himself with her vision, but he was still shorter than she was, and I was reminded of how young he still was.

Maysilee stood taller, looking up into his eyes with equal venom. "I don't care about your sob story life, Three. I don't care if the President himself pisses on your parade. I couldn't care less about your misery and your regrets and your pathetic anger issues. I couldn't care less about either of you," she snapped, finally noticing my awakened state and turning to glare at me as well. "As far as I'm concerned, you're both worthless men who can't get over your differences. Every day of training I've had to put up with your lack of loyalty to one another, and I've tried to change it nicely, but it's way beyond that now." Her eyes heated up, flaring green with rage.

"Training you is my assignment, and so help me God, I will do my best. But you need to look out for one another. I'm not your mother, and I'm not going to be there to help you when you start your mission. Chip, it is your responsibility to deal with the illusions and you didn't even bother trying to disable the one that was attacking your partner. I will not stand for your grudges. From this point on, if you ever deliberately sabotage an ally again, you'll find yourself dead for real. Understood?" Her eyes blazed.

Chip had the decency to look a bit sorry, but that wasn't enough to quell the fierce anger in the look he directed towards me as he stalked away. I watched his retreating back until Maysilee was standing before me again, checking over Foxface's work.

"Good, your leg looks like it will be okay. Unfortunately, sometimes the injuries from an illusion don't fade away just because you realize that they aren't real. They aren't half as bad as they would be, but we're not in the arena anymore. This isn't exactly the perfectly controlled environment we need to function them right. Let this injury serve as a reminder than even with illusions, you can never know what to expect. The science behind these things is still a bit touchy," she said, maintaining her cool demeanor as she inspected my leg.

"Foxface, help Cato back to the main hall. Rue shouldn't be too far away, she'll come and take him to the Medical Wing to clear him for duty. Both of you, bring Chip and come back here tomorrow morning at zero-seven-hundred. We start the mission at dawn the following day, and I want everything to go smoothly. Be ready to listen, and listen well," Maysilee said, standing up and striding off in the direction that Chip went. "Oh, and don't forget breakfast. I hear there's some decent looking oatmeal this week," she smiled this time. Perhaps she wasn't completely terrible.


End file.
